City Manager Search: Report Says Final Three Is Gerling Plus Two Candidates With Questions About Past

According to information received by Geneva Believer from sources with knowledge of the Geneva City Manager search, City Council is now reviewing their final three candidates. Sources say that current interim city manager Sage Gerling is on the list, while the two other male candidates each have concerning incidents in their professional pasts. Sources also say that Gerling is the least popular candidate among City Council, who will be choosing the new city manager within weeks.

Current interim city manager and director of neighborhood initiatives Sage Gerling

Inside The City Manager Search

The two male candidates who are reportedly in the final three have serious questions about their professional histories. Personally identifying details (including names) for these two candidates have been withheld by Geneva Believer for this story.

The front-runner reportedly has three discrimination complaints from a previous job.

The candidate currently in second place was reportedly fired from two previous jobs, but when asked for more information, declined to give a reason for the firings.

The third candidate is reportedly the city’s director of neighborhood initiatives and current acting city manager Sage Gerling. Gerling was named interim director of the Office of Neighborhood Initiatives on March 1 2012, and named permanent director later that year. Gerling is well respected and embedded in our community, thanks to her work with numerous neighborhood associations, non-profits, activists and other groups across the city. If Geneva wants a city manager with meaningful connections to the people in this community, Sage Gerling fits the bill.

Since January, Gerling has served as the interim city manager and by all accounts has done an exceptional job, with the help of city staff including comptroller Adam Blowers and City Clerk Doris Myers.

Gerling reportedly The Least Favorite Candidate Of Council?

All three reported candidates should be highly qualified for the position, if the search process has been conducted correctly.

The qualifications of the two male candidates would need to be significantly better than Gerling’s to win the job. Those two male candidates would also need to have extraordinary credentials that could overshadow the red flags in their past professional lives.

Why would Gerling be reportedly Council’s least favorite option?

In April, City Council selected a twenty-member search committee of 14 men and only 6 women. Eight out of nine members of Council (including the Mayor) are men.

The selection process has been dominated by men, and Gerling is fortunate to have reportedly made the final three.